A little tee hee

My sewing skills are still very much in the ‘extreme beginner’ realm (remember my maxi skirt fail?). That said, I have since managed to make a maxi skirt win! But I’m afraid that’s not what today’s post is about. It’s actually about an experiment with the remaining cloth from the maxi skirt. I had about 90 cm x 100 cm of cloth left so decided to make a top!

I don’t know about you but I love this new style of ‘box’ cut tops out in the shops, with a very wide body to the top and cropped size. They’re so comfy to wear! I love the bagginess. And being essentially a giant rectangle with sleeves I thought: I can do this….right? With my blog in mind and fellow sewing extreme beginners- I decided to experiment and really simplify things (mainly to make sure the tricky step of ‘inserted sleeves’ is avoided!). And also, why lie, I really wanted a cropped tee to go with my growing collection of maxi skirts!

So here’s my tutorial for my box cropped t-shirt:

And being the sweet lil pomegranate I am (chuckle) I’ve actually made you a print-from-your-computer template!

It’s for the size t-shirt I’ve made which is size 8-10 (UK), with a 1.5cm seam allowance. For increasing sizes add an inch all around (e.g. size 12, add 1 inch to the pattern, size 14->2 inches etc). I’m sure it can be downsized for kids/tweens/teens too.

Instructions

Print out the template (borderless if you can) and stick the pieces of paper together to make the template.

Cut out the template along the black solid line (along line a on page 3 for the neckline for the back piece).

Draw around the template onto your cloth and cut out the shape. This is the back.

Cut along line bon page 3, giving you the neckline for the front piece. Repeat step 3.

Pin together the two pieces with the right sides facing (i.e. inside out).

Sew along dashed lines c, d, eand f.

Turn the top out so it’s the right side out (i.e. the opposite to ‘inside out’?!).

Wide set sleeves

Fold over at the dotted lines and hem the sleeves and bottom of the top. You can adjust these to be as long/short sleeved, or cropped/non-cropped as you like.

Fold over and hem the neckline.

Sorry for the lack of neckline photos! Hijab gets in the way. Whoops! What I like about this pattern is that it’s simple and versatile. You could make it have a dropped hem at the back, or try making it a v-neck. You could use patterned material or embellish the front.

I hope that’s simple enough for you fellow beginners to give it a go! Originally I was going to add an Aztec style trim to the bottom of mine but decided to leave it plain so I can accessorise it with different necklaces and change the look. I think it would make a great project especially for those little bits of cloth you have left over and hoarded in a drawer. And besides, who doesn’t love an old school crop t-shirt?

Now, I’m off to hunt for more scraps of cloth to expand my wardrobe with…

Oh wow!! Thanks so much. That’s really kind of you. Eek, ‘Liebster award’, another thing to explain to the family over dinner! I will start on my quest to find 11 more blogs to pass it on to and reply to your nomination too 😀

Hi Maryam,
Thanks for the comment! For this particular post I actually used a Nikon D5100 DSLR which we bought just before going on our travels in East Africa. Normally (apart from the spiderweb rose tutorial which was my iphone) I use my Panasonic Lumix TZ10, a point and shoot digital camera. It’s a couple of years old now so they’ve got a new version out. But it’s the camera I reach for for photos for the blog- just because it’s so easy to use (especially on intelligent mode)! I’ve not quite got the hang of the SLR.
Hope that helps 🙂

Oh thank you for the nomination! That’s so sweet of you! I hope I keep the blog worthy of the award. I’ll definitely abide by the rules and pass it on once I get some time between revision! Thanks again- you’ve made my day 😀